Confusion on hatching.

[Capron09]

I want to add that I live in SOUTHWEST FLORDA where we have had record heat temps last week but have been in the late 80's with 50% hunidity for the last few days.

Okay so we are new to this. We purchased a rooster and hen buff oprington (BO) about 3 weeks ago. She has decided to start laying eggs!!! Yippie! We really got them for the eggs not for chicks but decided we would try and experience a hatching and see if this is something we may also be interested in. Currently, we have a temp coop which in the next week or so, we should have the new and permanent coop completed. It has been 10 days since she layed her first egg, we have 9 eggs and she has not laid eggs in two days. She laid 2 eggs on day 8. So, she runs around the yard all day long and I have caught her laying on her nest in the mornings but not at all since or durring the day. She is turning her eggs it seems sicne all mt x's are now on the bottom of the eggs. I was worried she wasnt going to lay on them but now I am reading that she will gather her clutch for about 10 days and then start sitting or incubating them? I think we are okay then?

My main question is this. If i allow her to hatch her eggs, do I take the babies from her and set them up in the chick house (kiddie pool with proper accomodations) or do I allow her to raise them out? There coop isnt really chick worthy. its just enough for the two. If I should take the babies after birth, how long shoudl I wait to take them, I read in teh incubator you should wait 4 hours? same with the coop? if I do leave them with her, do u think It woudl upset her or the eggs if I moved them to the new coop before they hatch?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Capron09]

Really? No answers yet! lol

 

[llaaadyel]

Moving the nest to the new coop can be done as long as you can move the whole nest. Some people have posted that they moved the eggs to a new nest but sometimes the hen will reject the new nest. Letting her raise the chicks or taking them out and into a brooder is really up to you. As long as the coop is warm enough for them, they would be fine with her. Given the fact that I currently have 24 5 week old chicks in my house, I would opt for keeping them with her. The smell is getting to me and cleaning the quarters every day just sucks. Either way, you will have to have a coop to accomodate all of them once they are all feathered.

 

[Capron09]

Which we should have a coop to house all of them in a few weeks before they hatch.

Thank you for the response. So it's up to me what we should do. Hmmmmm.....if I bring them in, how long should I wait to bring them in after they hatch? I seen that they say to leave them in the incubator 4 hours after they hatch so about 4hrs in the nest I assume?

 

[SierraView]

She wont sit on the nest to incubate them till she goes broody. I would gather the eggs and keep them in a carton in the house and turn them myself. I would also write the date they are laid on the shell. The older the egg the less chance it will hatch. I never have used eggs older then 7 - 10 days but heard people hatching eggs a month old. When she goes broody put the eggs under her. I suppose you could just leave the eggs in the nest but if a month goes by and it fills with a lot of eggs some might get rotten. You could do a search on broody hens and find more info.

 

[Capron09]

Thank you.

I see a few plucked feathers in there and I see turning of the eggs. I marked an x on them with a sharpie and now I cant see the x's so I think she is turning them. I guess i will have to see if she is really broody or not.

 

[greenfingers]

If she is really broody, she will NOT get off the nest and run around. She will sit there and puff herself all up when you come close, sometimes they 'growl'. I had to force my broody hens off the nest once a day when they were hatching! Most people put a few golf balls or fake eggs in the nest and take the real eggs so they will be good for eating (refrigerate). Or if you are hopeful that she will go broody, you can keep eggs on the counter for several days (I don't know about in your heat tho!) or if you have a cooler place in your house keep them there. It's no use keeping real eggs in the nest if she is not really broody. If she does exhibit broody behavior, you can swap out the real eggs with the golf balls.

Good luck!